Archive for January 2013

`First of all the Catholic church DO NOT allow worship of stones, images, statues, and other objects or he/she will be excommunicated.

This is NEVER EVER taught by the Catholic Church.
Idols have no real existence (1 Corinthians 8)
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”

Mary and other Saints exists, and we do not even worship them.

Explain this, how come a lot of former protestants and pastors who used to be Anti Catholic Bigots converted to Catholicism? and some of these Pastors are Bible Scholars but converted to Catholicism. It is so funny to think that these former Anti Catholic Bigots used to ACCUSED Catholics of worshipping our Saints but NOW they are Catholics and they also DO NOT WORSHIP our Saints!

EXUDOS 20:2-6 favorite verse use by Protestants to Attack the Catholic Church. Catholics do NOT worship statues or worship saints! A statue is merely a representation of someone who was once living same as having picture of your family that you have on your desk at work. Your picture helps you to remember and it brings back memories. Are you worshiping your picture every day? Of course not!

Ex. 20: 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:3-5 You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; . . .

In the context of Exodus 20:2-6 “And Idol is strictly defined as ANOTHER GOD before the Lord” You shall have no other gods before me.
It therefore falls to logic that the two verses following are speaking in terms of idols in the sense that they are being revered as Gods, making verses four and five relevant to verse three.

Therefore, an objector must prove that
1) the Catholic Church teaches that statues and images are gods or
2) they must at least proven that Catholics believe that statues and images are gods despite what the church teaches, otherwise, the statues in question FAILS to meet the requirements spoken of order to deemed idols.

Unfortunately when trying to argue claim 1: That the Catholic Church teaches that statues and images are gods, Objectors must admit DEFEAT in this area, because the Catholic Church does NOT acknowledge another god other than Jesus Christ, who alone is deserving of all worship.

You want PROOF? Let’s look at the Catholic creed which we recite in Mass every Sunday. The first line proves Objectors wrong with the declaration “WE BELIEVE IN ONE GOD” and NOT GODS okay?

Also if you look at the Cathechism of the Catholic church, you can find all kinds of passages that reference to the fact that we believe in ONLY ONE GOD.
In fact the Cathechism has a whole section dedicated to the condemnation of idols.

It read:
CCC 2112 “The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divineties than one true God.

CCC 2113 Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” Many martyrs died for not adoring “the Beast” refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God.

CCC 2114 Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. The commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless disintegration. Idolatry is a perversion of man’s innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who “transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God.”

Catholics do not worship statues, paintings and saints.

You will not hear from any priests or bishops telling Catholics to worship Mary, Saints, the Sun, Stones, woods, and Idols for the past 2,000 years of Catholic history.

You cannot read any Catholic books and ancient documents requiring Catholics to worship Mary, Saints, the Sun, Stones, woods, and Idols for the past 2,000 years of Catholic history.

The Catholic church founded in 33 AD by Jesus Christ and you will never find any books or writings by early church fathers telling Catholics to worship Mary, Saints, the Sun, Stones, woods, and Idols for the past 2,000 years of Catholic history.

People misinterpret Catholics when they see them kneeling down to Mary’s picture, Crucifix, and Statue of a Saint. Anti-Catholic Bigots assume that since they are kneeling down they think they are worshiping them.

We only ask the Saints or Mary for Intercessionary prayer same way we ask our friends to pray for us.

When you have a picture of your gf in your wallet and when you miss her you take it out and look at it and even talk to it and kiss it is that idol worship ?

Praying to Saints is really asking the saints to intercede for us since they are closer to God but we do not worship them. This is called intercessionary prayer or asking someone to pray for you to God.

A good example of Intercessionary prayer is when you ask one of your friends to pray for you because you have an upcoming exam.

To show that we are only asking to pray for us, lets take a look of the Hail Mary Prayer

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of god, “pray for us” sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen

If you notice we are only asking Mary “to pray for us” to Jesus as shown in the Hail Mary exactly the same when asking a friend or a relative to pray for us when you are sick or has a test. In Hail Mary for example like all intercessionary prayer you will NOT see any word that says “we WORSHIP you or I WORSHIP you” all you can find is asking the Saints to “pray for us”.

Regarding bowing down or kneeling down, this is not an act of worship this is an act of showing respect. For example when the US president Obama went to Saudi Arabia he bowed down eight times to the King Abdullah of Saudi and was he worshiping the King?

How about citizens of a The Monarchy of Thailand and United Kingdom, when people kneel and bow down to the their King and Queen are they worshiping them?

In fact Canadians still bow to England’s Queen.

If it were true that you Catholics do not worship God through images, what is it that you are doing when you kneel down before those images?

KNEELING IS NOT EXCLUSIVELY FOR WORSHIP ALONE, IT IS ALSO AN ACT FOR EXPRESSING RESPECT (SEE DAN.2:47, JOSHUA 7:6, 1 KGS 2:19) CATHOLICS KNEEL IN FRONT OF THE STATUE IN ORDER TO VENERATE (VENERATION IS NOT ADORATION) OR GIVE RESPECT TO THE PERSON WHOM THE IMAGE REPRESENTS. JEWS BOWED DOWN IN FRONT OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT JOSHUA 6:7, AND IN THE ARK OF THE COVENANT THERE IS A STATUE OF THE CHERUBIM EX.25:18.

Is it not that you pray and ask for something before the statues of your patron saints?

WE DO NOT PRAY TO THE STATUE PER SE, WE ASK INTERCESSION TO THE PERSON WHOM THE STATUE REPRESENTS. IN ST.PAUL’S EPISTLES HE URGE CHRISTIANS TO INTERCEDE OR PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER 1 TIM.2:1

WHAT VERSES FROM THE BIBLE THAT GOD COMMANDS YOU TO MAKE IMAGES OF YOUR PATRON SAINTS FOR YOU TO PRAY BEFORE THEM?

IN MATTHEW 16:18-19 WHEN CHRIST FOUNDED THE CHURCH HE GAVE TO PETER THE KEYS WHICH SYMBOLIZED AUTHORITY (IS.22:22) AND THIS AUTHORITY IS ALSO EXTENDED TO OTHER APOSTLES (MT.18:18). THEREFORE IF THE CHURCH DECREES A TEACHING IN MATTERS OF FAITH AND MORALS, IT IS, AS IF CHRIST SPEAKS THROUGH THE CHURCH. IN THE OLD COVENANT THE TEMPLE IS FULL OF VARIOUS IMAGES (SEE 1 KGS 6:23,35). IN COL.1:16-17 THE OLD IS THE SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME. IN THE OLD COVENANT THERE ARE IMAGES HENCE IN THE NEW COVENANT THERE WILL ALSO BE IMAGES, IN THE OLD COVENANT THERE IS A TEMPLE HENCE IN THE NEW COVENANT THERE IS ALSO A TEMPLE WHICH WE CALL CHURCH AND MANY MORE…

THAT IT IS GOD’S COMMANDMENT THAT YOU CATHOLICS SHOULD MAKE STATUES AND GRAVEN IMAGES OF YOUR SO- CALLED PATRON SAINTS AND AFTER THAT YOU SHOULD KNEEL DOWN BEFORE THEM. You should show this to the multitude who have already opened their minds.

THE BIBLE IS NOT A DICTIONARY WHEREIN YOU CAN FIND TERMS IN WORD FOR WORD FORMAT. THE CHURCH INTERPRET THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE NOT IN ISOLATED TEXT. PROTESTANT HERETICS INTERPRET THE BIBLE BASING ONLY IN FEW VERSES. FOR EXAMPLE THEY BELIEVED THAT IMAGES ARE FORBIDDEN HOWEVER GOD ALSO ORDERED THE CARVING OF IMAGE EX.25:18, SO WHO IS CORRECT? THE PROTESTANTS WHO TEACH THAT ALL KINDS OF IMAGES ARE FORBIDDEN? OR THE BIBLE THAT HAS A BALANCE VIEW ON IMAGES? THERE ARE IMAGES THAT ARE FORBIDDEN EX.20:4 AND THERE ARE IMAGES THAT IS ALLOWED EX.25:18.

Kneeling and bowing is same as saluting a general, it demonstrates respect for the position.We ask the Saints or Mary to pray for us because they are closer to God. In Fact Martin Luther the founder of Protestant religion was devoted to our Lady. You can also pray to God directly if you want. Praying to Saints is only optional like if you need extra help so your prayer will be heard by God.

Those who are not Catholics are confused between Veneration and Worship —
Veneration is showing respect or honor, not worship.
Veneration of Saints is asking them for intercession.The only one worthy of worship is God, and God alone! If a Catholic did worship a statue or saint, they would be excommunicated from the church. You must remember that the Catholic Church is traced back to the apostles. They could not take a picture of Jesus and carry it around in their pocket–cameras did not exist. But in the early Church, one way of remembering was by erecting statues of those of importance, such as Jesus, Mary, etc. Why do you think that it is so odd that Catholics have statues in their churches and no other denomination does? Because Catholics carried the tradition from the early Church!

Aren’t all those statues in the Catholic Church the same as worshiping graven images?

Bible references that protestants usually use to attack the Catholic church

Exodus 2:3-5 You shall have no other gods before me. [4] You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; [5] you shall not bow down to them or serve them; . . .

Leviticus 26:1 You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no graven image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land, to bow down to them; for I am the LORD your God. . . .

Deuteronomy 5:8-9 You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; [9] you shall not bow down to them or serve them; . . .

Micah 5:13 and I will cut off your images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands;

EXUDOS 20:2-6

Ex. 20: 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.First, one must understand what a graven image is in the context of the Old Testament. To make a graven image is to create an image out of some medium, such as clay or wood, and worship it as a God.

These verses were written in the old days when most people are LOOKING for anything to worship such as the Sun, Animals, Stones, and create any weird images for them to worship.

Nowadays when a person becomes a Christian he knows that Jesus is God and he is the only one to be worship and no other. It is just common sense that when you become a Christian he knows that worshiping a statue or picture idolatry. These statues or pictures are just tools to reference they were once here in this world alive. That is why accusing us of idolatry is so ridiculous.

That is the problem with Fundamentalists they judge base on the act of the person and not what is inside the mind. Praying to Saints is NOT worship like God but only asking the saints like a FRIEND to intercede for us since they are closer to God but we do NOT worship them. The same way when you ask a friend to pray for you to God because you have a final test coming up. This is called intercessionary prayer or asking someone to pray for you to God.

The statues or pictures of Mary and Saints are not worshiped as a God. If a Catholic worships a statue of Mary as a God, they are guilty of idolatry.

We don’t worship statues of Christ as being Christ, but only to help us focus on Him. Also, to use your analogy, God broke His own commandment when He commanded the Jews to build the Ark with the iages of two seraph’s on it!

It is right to warn people against the sin of idolatry when they are committing it. But calling Catholics idolaters because they have images of Christ and the saints is based on misunderstanding or ignorance of what the Bible says about the purpose and uses (both good and bad) of statues.

Anti-Catholic writer Loraine Boettner, in his book Roman Catholicism, makes the blanket statement, “God has forbidden the use of images in worship” (281). Yet if people were to “search the scriptures” (cf. John 5:39), they would find the opposite is true.

God forbade the worship of statues, but he did not forbid the religious use of statues. Instead, he actually commanded their use in religious contexts.

God Said To Make Them.

If statues and images were so taboo by God, then why did God command Moses, while in the desert, to put a serpent on a pole?

Num 21:8 And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten when he look upon it, shall live.

People who oppose religious statuary forget about the many passages where the Lord commands the making of statues.

Then what about the construction of the Ark of the Covenant?

Ex. 25:18 God said to Moses – And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat (vs. 20) And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look at one to another…

1Kings 7:23 He made also a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round all about; the height of it was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.

1Kings 7:24 And a graven work under the brim of it compassed it, for ten cubits going about the sea: there were two rows cast of chamfered sculptures.

1Kings 7:25 And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south, and three towards the east, and the sea was above upon them, and their hinder parts were all hid within.

1Kings 7:26 And the laver was a handbreadth thick: and the brim thereof was like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily: it contained two thousand bates.

David gave Solomon the plan “for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. All this he made clear by the writing of the hand of the Lord concerning it all, all the work to be done according to the plan” (1 Chr. 28:18–19). David’s plan for the temple, which the biblical author tells us was “by the writing of the hand of the Lord concerning it all,” included statues of angels.

Similarly Ezekiel 41:17–18 describes graven (carved) images in the idealized temple he was shown in a vision, for he writes, “On the walls round about in the inner room and [on] the nave were carved likenesses of cherubim.”

Now, there is an instance when God forbids statues, and that is the well known incident in

Exodus 32-8 when the people created a molten calf. This calf was not a reminder but it was created to be a God so that it could be worshiped.

As you see, a statue is harmless if it is being used as a representation of someone like picture of Jose Rizal, Noynoy etc, but when the statues becomes a God that is worshiped, then there is much harm and those who worship as such are wide open to the wrath of God.

Idol Worship… This is another argument aimed against the Catholic Church since it has statues of Jesus and Mary, and other saints.

Can They Hear Us?

Revelation 5:8 One charge made against it is that the saints in heaven cannot even hear our prayers, making it useless to ask for their intercession. However, this is not true. As Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” But if the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God, then they must be aware of our prayers. They are aware of our petitions and present them to God by interceding for us.

option to pray directly or via intercessionary prayer

Praying to the Saints

The historic Christian practice of asking our departed brothers and sisters in Christ—the saints—for their intercession has come under attack in the last few hundred years. Though the practice dates to the earliest days of Christianity and is shared by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, the other Eastern Christians, and even some Anglicans—meaning that all-told it is shared by more than three quarters of the Christians on earth—it still comes under heavy attack from many within the Protestant movement that started in the sixteenth century.

Can They Hear Us?

One charge made against it is that the saints in heaven cannot even hear our prayers, making it useless to ask for their intercession. However, this is not true. As Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” But if the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God, then they must be aware of our prayers. They are aware of our petitions and present them to God by interceding for us.

Some might try to argue that in this passage the prayers being offered were not addressed to the saints in heaven, but directly to God. Yet this argument would only strengthen the fact that those in heaven can hear our prayers, for then the saints would be aware of our prayers even when they are not directed to them!

In any event, it is clear from Revelation 5:8 that the saints in heaven do actively intercede for us. We are explicitly told by John that the incense they offer to God are the prayers of the saints. Prayers are not physical things and cannot be physically offered to God. Thus the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God mentally. In other words, they are interceding.

One Mediator

In 1 Timothy it says that Jesus is our sole mediator, yet we pray to Mary and the Saints. Is that going against the Bible?

Another charge commonly levelled against asking the saints for their intercession is that this violates the sole mediatorship of Christ, which Paul discusses: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).

But asking one person to pray for you in no way violates Christ’s mediatorship, as can be seen from considering the way in which Christ is a mediator. First, Christ is a unique mediator between man and God because he is the only person who is both God and man. He is the only bridge between the two, the only God-man. But that role as mediator is not compromised in the least by the fact that others intercede for us. Furthermore, Christ is a unique mediator between God and man because he is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15, 12:24), just as Moses was the mediator (Greek mesitas) of the Old Covenant (Gal. 3:19–20).

The intercession of fellow Christians—which is what the saints in heaven are—also clearly does not interfere with Christ’s unique mediatorship because in the four verses immediately preceding 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul says that Christians should interceed:

1 Timothy 2:5 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1–4). Clearly, then, intercessory prayers offered by Christians on behalf of others is something “good and pleasing to God,” not something infringing on Christ’s role as mediator.

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1 Tim 2:5 reads as follows: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” “You see,” we Catholics are told, “there is only one mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ. Therefore, praying to the saints goes against the Bible because you are making them mediators between God and man, you are diminishing Jesus’ role as the sole mediator!”

Is that an appropriate interpretation of that passage? No, it’s not and let’s see why not.

In the O.T. Gal. 3:19–20 we see that Moses, Abraham, and Job interceded on behalf of others… that’s mediating between God and man. We know that it is okay to ask others here on earth to pray and intercede for us…. that’s mediating between God and man. So, I think, once again, we have a situation where a passage of the Bible is being misinterpreted and misunderstood.

There is only one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ, but as members of the Body of Christ, He allows us to share in His mediation.

Also, Scripture tells us that we have only one foundation, Jesus Christ (1 Cor 3:11); but, Scripture tells us that there is more than one foundation (Eph 2:19-20).

Scripture tells us that we have only Lord, Jesus Christ (Eph 4:4-5); but, Scripture tells us there is more than one lord (Rev 19:16).

Scripture tells us that we have only one Judge, Jesus Christ (James 4:12); but, Scripture tells us there is more than one judge (1 Cor 6:2).

Contradictions in Scripture? No! Not when these passages are all properly understood in context. Jesus is the only foundation; Jesus is the only Lord; and Jesus is the only Judge. But, we are members of Jesus’ Body. Therefore, we are able, according to the graces given by Christ, to share in Jesus’ role as foundation, as lord, and as judge, and in other aspects of Christ, as well. Another example, as a father I share in God’s role as Father, by His grace. And, so also, we, and the saints in Heaven, and the angels in Heaven, can share in Christ’s role as Mediator.

“No Contact with the dead”

Sometimes Fundamentalists object to asking our fellow Christians in heaven to pray for us by declaring that God has forbidden contact with the dead in passages such as Deuteronomy 18:10–11. In fact, he has not, because he at times has given it—for example, when he had Moses and Elijah appear with Christ to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3). What God has forbidden is necromantic practice of conjuring up spirits. “There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. . . . For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, give heed to soothsayers and to diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you so to do. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren—him you shall heed” (Deut. 18:10–15).

God thus indicates that one is not to conjure the dead for purposes of gaining information; one is to look to God’s prophets instead. Thus one is not to hold a seance. But anyone with an ounce of common sense can discern the vast qualitative difference between holding a seance to have the dead speak through you and a son humbly saying at his mother’s grave, “Mom, please pray to Jesus for me; I’m having a real problem right now.” The difference between the two is the difference between night and day. One is an occult practice bent on getting secret information; the other is a humble request for a loved one to pray to God on one’s behalf.

Overlooking the Obvious

Some objections to the concept of prayer to the saints betray restricted notions of heaven. One comes from anti-Catholic Loraine Boettner:

“How, then, can a human being such as Mary hear the prayers of millions of Roman Catholics, in many different countries, praying in many different languages, all at the same time?

“Let any priest or layman try to converse with only three people at the same time and see how impossible that is for a human being. . . . The objections against prayers to Mary apply equally against prayers to the saints. For they too are only creatures, infinitely less than God, able to be at only one place at a time and to do only one thing at a time.

“How, then, can they listen to and answer thousands upon thousands of petitions made simultaneously in many different lands and in many different languages? Many such petitions are expressed, not orally, but only mentally, silently. How can Mary and the saints, without being like God, be present everywhere and know the secrets of all hearts?” (Roman Catholicism, 142-143).

If being in heaven were like being in the next room, then of course these objections would be valid. A mortal, unglorified person in the next room would indeed suffer the restrictions imposed by the way space and time work in our universe. But the saints are not in the next room, and they are not subject to the time/space limitations of this life.

This does not imply that the saints in heaven therefore must be omniscient, as God is, for it is only through God’s willing it that they can communicate with others in heaven or with us. And Boettner’s argument about petitions arriving in different languages is even further off the mark. Does anyone really think that in heaven the saints are restricted to the King’s English? After all, it is God himself who gives the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Surely those saints in Revelation understand the prayers they are shown to be offering to God.

The problem here is one of what might be called a primitive or even childish view of heaven. It is certainly not one on which enough intellectual rigor has been exercised. A good introduction to the real implications of the afterlife may be found in Frank Sheed’s book Theology and Sanity, which argues that sanity depends on an accurate appreciation of reality, and that includes an accurate appreciation of what heaven is really like. And once that is known, the place of prayer to the saints follows.

“Directly to Jesus”

Some may grant that the previous objections to asking the saints for their intercession do not work and may even grant that the practice is permissible in theory, yet they may question it on other grounds, asking why one would want to ask the saints to pray for one. “Why not pray directly to Jesus?” they ask.

The answer is: “Of course one should pray directly to Jesus!” But that does not mean it is not also a good thing to ask others to pray for one as well. Ultimately, the “go-directly-to-Jesus” objection boomerangs back on the one who makes it: Why should we ask any Christian, in heaven or on earth, to pray for us when we can ask Jesus directly? If the mere fact that we can go straight to Jesus proved that we should ask no Christian in heaven to pray for us then it would also prove that we should ask no Christian on earth to pray for us.

Praying for each other is simply part of what Christians do. As we saw, in 1 Timothy 2:1–4, Paul strongly encouraged Christians to intercede for many different things, and that passage is by no means unique in his writings. Elsewhere Paul directly asks others to pray for him (Rom. 15:30–32, Eph. 6:18–20, Col. 4:3, 1 Thess. 5:25, 2 Thess. 3:1), and he assured them that he was praying for them as well (2 Thess. 1:11). Most fundamentally, Jesus himself required us to pray for others, and not only for those who asked us to do so (Matt. 5:44).

Since the practice of asking others to pray for us is so highly recommended in Scripture, it cannot be regarded as superfluous on the grounds that one can go directly to Jesus. The New Testament would not recommend it if there were not benefits coming from it. One such benefit is that the faith and devotion of the saints can support our own weaknesses and supply what is lacking in our own faith and devotion. Jesus regularly supplied for one person based on another person’s faith (e.g., Matt. 8:13, 15:28, 17:15–18, Mark 9:17–29, Luke 8:49–55). And it goes without saying that those in heaven, being free of the body and the distractions of this life, have even greater confidence and devotion to God than anyone on earth.

Also, God answers in particular the prayers of the righteous. James declares: “The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit” (Jas. 5:16–18). Yet those Christians in heaven are more righteous, since they have been made perfect to stand in God’s presence (Heb. 12:22-23), than anyone on earth, meaning their prayers would be even more efficacious.

Having others praying for us thus is a good thing, not something to be despised or set aside. Of course, we should pray directly to Christ with every pressing need we have (cf. John 14:13–14). That’s something the Catholic Church strongly encourages. In fact, the prayers of the Mass, the central act of Catholic worship, are directed to God and Jesus, not the saints. But this does not mean that we should not also ask our fellow Christians, including those in heaven, to pray with us.

In addition to our prayers directly to God and Jesus (which are absolutely essential to the Christian life), there are abundant reasons to ask our fellow Christians in heaven to pray for us. The Bible indicates that they are aware of our prayers, that they intercede for us, and that their prayers are effective (else they would not be offered). It is only narrow-mindedness that suggests we should refrain from asking our fellow Christians in heaven to do what we already know them to be anxious and capable of doing.

In Heaven and On Earth

The Bible directs us to invoke those in heaven and ask them to pray with us. Thus in Psalms 103, we pray, “Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!” (Ps. 103:20-21). And in Psalms 148 we pray, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!” (Ps. 148:1-2).

Not only do those in heaven pray with us, they also pray for us. In the book of Revelation, we read: “[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God” (Rev. 8:3-4).
And those in heaven who offer to God our prayers aren’t just angels, but humans as well. John sees that “the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev. 5:8). The simple fact is, as this passage shows: The saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.

That is the problem with Fundamentalists they judge base on the act of the person and not what is inside the mind. Praying to Saints is NOT worship like God but only asking the saints like a FRIEND to intercede for us since they are closer to God but we do NOT worship them. The same way when you ask a friend to pray for you to God because you have a final test coming up. This is called intercessionary prayer or asking someone to pray for you to God.

that is the beauty of the Catholics because we can ask a Saint or a friend or to Intercede/pray for us if we have problems or dont feel well OR we can also Pray to GOD DIRECTLY!

If Catholics really do worship idols, image, stone, pictures how come every year thousands of Protestants: Baptists, Born Again, Methodists, Evangelicals etc here in AMERICA are converting to Catholicism??? that is after they did a deep STUDY of Historical Facts of Christianity and Biblical foundation of the 2,000 years old Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ on 33 AD

In fact on Easter of 2007 alone, it was announced that over 100,000 people came into the Catholic Church, just in the United States.

Just like Cardinal John Henry Newman (a former Protestant) said “To Be Deep In History, Is To Cease To Be A Protestant”

Cardinal Henry Newman, a Protestant convert to Catholicism, that said “knowledge of history is the end of Protestantism.” He was right. A sound understanding of historical Christianity puts all of Protestantism on it’s deathbed, and this most especially applies to Evangelical Fundamentalism. So, one of the ways Protestantism continues to survive and flourish is through a PROPAGANDA tool I like to call “alternate histories,” and no form of Protestantism does this better than Fundamentalism.

To name some Protestants out of thousands who converted to Catholicism:

Allen Hunt, a major radio evangelist and the pastor of Mount Pisgah United Methodist, the world’s third largest Methodist church and the largest “megachurch” in the State of Georgia, has announced his conversion to Roman Catholicism.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Hunt

Episcopal Church in Maryland to Convert to Catholicism –
“What really drew us was the apostolic authority, the oneness of the faith of the people,” Lewis said “That’s what we really wanted, and I don’t think you have that in Anglicanism.” Nearly 500 years ago, Britain’s King Henry VIII broke with Rome in a dispute involving his wish to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry his young mistress, Anne Boleyn.http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/01/episcopal-church-in-maryland-converts-to-catholicism/

In the Middle of a Triangle – Conversion Story of Najib Nasr
Najib lived most of his life in Lebanon as a pilot, growing up in a home split between Orthodox and Evangelical beliefs. After rediscovering the Bible and listening to American Protestant radio, Najib decided he needed to find the one, united Church that Christ established. The Early Church Fathers led him home to the Catholic Church.http://chnetwork.org/2014/01/in-the-middle-of-a-triangle-conversion-story-of-najib-nasr/

Our Journey Home – A Deeper Look at the Conversion Story of Marcus and Marilyn Grodi
Becoming Catholic was never my dream or intent. It is still an all too vivid memory to me, sitting alone at age 40 in a half-lit basement, having resigned from the pastorate. I ached for having abandoned the weekly privilege of a pulpit from which to proclaim God’s truth. Would I ever have this privilege again? Will I ever again have a pulpit? Now they estimate that each week from the “pulpit” of The Journey Home television program I speak to a potential audience of over a billion viewers and listeners. In one night I speak to more people than I ever could have in my entire career as a Protestant minister. This is the humor of our merciful God. Before I converted I had no idea whatsoever how I would support my family let alone how I would continue in ministry. But this is getting way ahead of myself.http://chnetwork.org/2013/12/our-journey-home-a-deeper-look-at-the-conversion-story-of-marcus-and-marilyn-grodi/

Conversion Story of Fr. Donald Flumerfelt
In my youth, my whole family was actively involved in many aspects of the United Church of Canada in Calgary, Alberta and in Montreal, Quebec. They were good and creative years. My call to ministry came while serving as a counselor for a church camp outside Montreal. One beautiful summer morning, the sun was dancing off the water and a gentle breeze was blowing.http://chnetwork.org/2013/11/full-communion-conversion-story-of-fr-donald-flumerfelt/

The Words of Eternal Life – Conversion Story of Louise Winant
After leaving the Catholic Church and attending evangelical denominations, Louise Winant sought the truth of Christ and decided to reconcile with the church of her youth. Even after returning, there was one teaching of the Catholic Church — the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist — that Louise could not get over, until Jesus touched her heart.http://chnetwork.org/2013/10/the-words-of-eternal-life-conversion-story-of-louise-winant/

More Than Enough – Conversion Story of Kathy McDonald
Our third son was 10 days old on “Reformation Sunday” 1998. The preacher that Sunday at the local Lutheran church we attended was a retired Lutheran school principal, a man in his 70s with a great shock of white hair. He ascended the pulpit and held up a book, a book he proclaimed “the work of the devil!” The book was by a Catholic author on justification. The preacher offered this book as evidence that “the Reformation must go on!” To me, he came across as so angry and fearful, so unreasonably opposed to the Catholic author, that I leaned over and whispered to my husband, Joe, and said “Sounds like a book we ought to read.”http://chnetwork.org/2013/09/more-than-enough-conversion-story-of-kathy-mcdonald/

Towards Unity – Conversion Story of Fr. Jurgen Liias
After 40 years as an Episcopal priest, Jurgen Liias became a Catholic in August 2012. In April 2013 he was ordained a Catholic priest through the Anglican Ordinariate. A community of about 25 other former Anglicans have joined him in forming the parish of St. Gregory the Great of the US Anglican Ordinariate in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts.http://chnetwork.org/2013/09/towards-unity-conversion-story-of-fr-jurgen-liias/

How Being a Baptist Prepared Me to be a Good Catholic
by Paul McCusker. Frankly, I doubt I would be much of a Catholic now without the benefit of all I’d been taught by Protestants as I travelled this way. I know that had I followed my father’s lead as a Catholic I wouldn’t be Catholic at all. (For him, it was a cultural identity, something handed down to him like an old coat he didn’t really want – if even that.) Any spark of faith in my life was fanned by my very-Protestant mother, faithful relatives and, in my formative years, the good people at Grace Baptist Church in my hometown.http://chnetwork.org/2013/08/how-being-a-baptist-prepared-me-to-be-a-good-catholic/

I Did It Afraid! – Conversion Story of Cheryl Ann Masaitis-Spychaj
Cheryl Ann, who dreamed of being a missionary and mother of many children, has felt the hand of God throughout her whole life. Facing the crisis of scandal in the Catholic Church, she left to become an Evangelical Christian. An unexpected turn of events awakened a longing desire for Jesus in the Eucharist, which brought her home to the Church of her youth.http://chnetwork.org/2013/08/i-did-it-afraid-conversion-story-of-cheryl-ann-masaitis-spychaj/

From Calvin to Catholicism – Conversion Story of Brian Besong
Intellectually, I had a strong “faith” in the tenets of Protestantism, particularly as they were expressed in the Calvinist tradition. Yet Calvinism excused my sin as something God Himself did not see, since, so I believed, the righteousness of Christ had been imputed to me because of my genuine faith, covering over my sins so that He was blind to them, at least insofar as my salvation was concerned.http://chnetwork.org/2013/07/from-calvin-to-catholicism-conversion-story-of-brian-besong/

The Tiber: Neither Too Wide, Nor Too Deep – Conversion Story of James L. Papandrea, M.Div., Ph.D.
It was my study of the Church Fathers that ignited within me the dormant flame of Catholicism. As many others who have gone before me found, one cannot study the history of the early Church without realizing that many Protestant doctrines — sola Scriptura, for example — were an invention of the Protestant reformation and do not actually reflect the understanding of the Church Fathers, let alone the Apostles. I also realized that the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist is consistent with the way the sacrament has been understood from the beginning.http://chnetwork.org/2013/07/the-tiber-neither-too-wide-nor-too-deep-conversion-story-of-james-l-papandrea-m-div-ph-d/

Life – Conversion Story of Chris LaRose
I continued to pray, to lead Bible studies, prayer groups, and Life in the Spirit seminars, became a Stephen Ministries leader, prepared for ordination, and became a Methodist pastor — all in just three years! While I was living in the church parsonage, I was watching TV one day and I happened upon a Catholic nun (Mother Angelica) who was teaching from the Bible on her own network, EWTN! This station was all our family watched from that day on. We began praying the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Liturgy of the Hours — as Protestants!http://chnetwork.org/2013/06/you-have-the-words-of-eternal-life-conversion-story-of-chris-larose/

Led by the Good Shepherd to the Catholic Church – Conversion Story of Ed Hopkins
I was raised in a small-town, Southern Baptist church in Virginia where I, along with my sister, my two brothers, and our parents, attended Sunday School and church nearly every Sunday that I can remember. In my early teen years, I responded to a preacher’s invitation to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior and was baptized. The experience of the waters of baptism seemed to be one of re-birth. I felt as though my sins were washed away and there was a new beginning and opportunity for me ahead. However, I did not experience much growth in grace during my later high school years and I went away to college in 1970 very disappointed with my hometown and the Christians that I knew.http://chnetwork.org/2013/06/led-by-the-good-shepherd-to-the-catholic-church-conversion-story-of-ed-hopkins/

God Writes Best with Crooked Lines – Conversion Story of Ercy Joy Ghiringhelli
Growing up a cradle Catholic in Argentina, Ercy Joy Ghiringhelli had a powerful experience with Jesus in the Eucharist. However, over the course of life, she became attracted by revival in Protestant churches. She eventually became an ordained Nazarene pastor and worked with the sick and suffering, until flipping channels one day, she came across an episode of The Journey Home.http://chnetwork.org/2013/05/god-writes-best-with-crooked-lines-conversion-story-of-ercy-joy-ghiringhelli/

What a Coincidence — Conversion Story of Ron Moffat
Ron Moffat, a former Scots Calvinist recalls his journey into the Catholic Church. “Peter said simply, ‘Lord to whom shall we go?’ I knew in my heart, there was nowhere else I could go if I wanted a faith that wasn’t subject to change depending on the latest intellectual fads. I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing, but if I wasn’t, I knew there was no better alternative.http://chnetwork.org/2013/05/what-a-coincidence-conversion-story-of-ron-moffat/

A Catholic Seed Sewn – Conversion story of Vicki Hassessian
My story begins in a naval hospital in Pittsburgh, California, where I was born to an 18-year-old girl and her 19-year-old husband. My parents were believers and we attended the Nazarene church close to our house.. I do remember that my mother used to turn on the TV to do her daily workouts with Jack LaLanne, and just before he came on, there was a show with a man wearing a cap, a large cross on a chain, and he wore a cape that he threw around as he talked. His eyes burned into the camera! Later I would learn that his name was Archbishop Fulton Sheen.http://chnetwork.org/2013/05/a-catholic-seed-sewn-conversion-story-of-vicki-hassessian/

The Corpus & the Cross: My Conversion to the Catholic Faith – by Jackford Kolk
Over the next few years of talking to [my friend] about what he was studying, I slowly began to understand the TULIP doctrines and I realized that I didn’t actually agree with any of them. As a good Protestant, I knew that I could question every tenet of the faith that I had been brought up in and still be a good Christian, so as I gradually began to doubt Calvinism, I never questioned my relationship with God, nor His love for me.http://chnetwork.org/2013/04/the-corpus-the-cross-my-conversion-to-the-catholic-faith-by-jackford-kolk/

My Pearl of Great Price – Conversion Story of Sissi L. Baker
My father was the pastor of a few different churches throughout Ohio and West Virginia during this time. He began as a Pentecostal minister, and would later go on to pastor a Baptist church. My father never attended a seminary, although he received his preaching credentials under the teaching of another Evangelist via postal-mail. I remember as a young girl, my father worked hard at his biblical studies. He continued to work full-time as a carpenter to provide a decent living for his family, but on many evenings, he would slave over a stack of books for long hours.http://chnetwork.org/2013/03/my-pearl-of-great-price-conversion-story-of-sissi-l-baker/

A Change of Faith – Conversion Story of Joan Thomas
I grew up in Trinidad, in the West Indies, of British parentage. My parents were delightful people, loved by me and by everyone else who knew them. They were baptized Christians and lived as Christians should: helping others when necessary and sharing with those who needed it; but like many non-Catholics in those days, attending church regularly was not considered necessary. My two sisters and myself were baptized Anglicans, confirmed when we reached the proper age and as younger children were sent to Sunday school. Our parents attended church services on Easter Sunday, Christmas morning, and perhaps twice otherwise during the year. As we grew older, we stopped attending Sunday school, and only went to church when our parents did. We were believers but religion did not play an important role in our lives.http://chnetwork.org/2013/02/a-change-of-faith-conversion-story-of-joan-thomas/

Tears from My Father – Conversion Story of Randall Gorman
I was raised in a family that was steeped in the Assemblies of God (AG) tradition. My grandfather, Marvin Gorman, was the pastor of the largest AG church in the state of Louisiana with around four to six thousand people in attendance every Sunday. As an adult, I was a third generation minister in an Assemblies of God (AG) turned non-denominational church in Ruston, Louisiana.http://chnetwork.org/2013/02/tears-from-my-father-conversion-story-of-randall-gorman/

Give – Conversion Story of John Nahrgang
Even as a sophomore I knew that I wanted to attend Notre Dame. Its Catholic identity wasn’t really a factor at all; its academic reputation, quality of student life (as reported by Princeton Review), and the memories of my first visit there drove my decision. I didn’t know what to make of Catholicism at all. One of the essays on the Notre Dame application dealt with a “spiritual topic” of our choosing. I chose to write about my impressions of Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.http://chnetwork.org/2013/01/hope-that-the-world-cannot-give-conversion-story-of-john-nahrgang/

The “Full Gospel” – Conversion Story of Ernest R. Freeman
The Drill Sergeant walked into the barracks and yelled, “Who wants to go to church? Be out front in 10 minutes!” Being an eighteen-year-old raw recruit in desperate need of a break from military training, I decided to go. I assumed it would be a Protestant gathering; to […]http://chnetwork.org/2012/12/the-full-gospel-conversion-story-of-ernest-r-freeman/

My Conversion Story – Conversion Story of Anita G. Gorman, Ph.D.
My Conversion Story by Anita G. Gorman, Ph.D. My parents were born in Sweden and immigrated to the United States as young adults. Nominal Lutherans, baptized and confirmed in the Church of Sweden, they were not strong churchgoers. Our next-door neighbors, on the other hand, were fervent Baptists who attended a Swedish Baptist […]http://chnetwork.org/2012/12/my-conversion-story-conversion-story-of-anita-g-gorman-ph-d/

Gary Sinise is a convert to Catholicism, not only is he known for his work in Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 and CSI, he does some major charity work too..! http://www.ltdanbandmovie.com/

July 1, 2011
*Episcopal Church in Maryland to Convert to Catholicism – “What really drew us was the apostolic authority, the oneness of the faith of the people,” Lewis said “That’s what we really wanted, and I don’t think you have that in Anglicanism.” Nearly 500 years ago, Britain’s King Henry VIII broke with Rome in a dispute involving his wish to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry his young mistress, Anne Boleyn. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/01/episcopal-church-in-maryland-converts-to-catholicism/

* Allen Hunt, a major radio evangelist and the pastor of Mount Pisgah United Methodist, the world’s third largest Methodist church and the largest “megachurch” in the State of Georgia, has announced his conversion to Roman Catholicism.

* The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism. Thounsands of Converts every Year and this 2007 Easter, it was announced that over 100,000 people came into the Church, just in the United States.

The word rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses, the rose being one of the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary. If you were to ask what object is most emblematic of Catholics, people would probably say, “The rosary, of course.” We’re familiar with the images: the silently moving lips of the old woman fingering her beads; the oversized rosary hanging from the waist of the wimpled nun; more recently, the merely decorative rosary hanging from the rearview mirror.

After Vatican II the rosary fell into relative disuse. The same is true for Marian devotions as a whole. But in recent years the rosary has made a comeback, and not just among Catholics. Many Protestants now say the rosary, recognizing it as a truly biblical form of prayer—after all, the prayers that comprise it come mainly from the Bible.

The rosary is a devotion in honor of the Virgin Mary. It consists of a set number of specific prayers. First are the introductory prayers: one Apostles’ Creed (Credo), one Our Father (the Pater Noster or the Lord’s Prayer), three Hail Mary’s (Ave’s), one Glory Be (Gloria Patri).

The Apostles’ Creed

The Apostles’ Creed is so called not because it was composed by the apostles themselves, but because it expresses their teachings. The original form of the creed came into use around A.D. 125, and the present form dates from the 400s. It reads this way:

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”

Traditional Protestants are able to recite the Apostles’ Creed without qualms, meaning every line of it, though to some lines they must give meanings different from those given by Catholics, who composed the creed. For instance, we refer to “the holy Catholic Church,” meaning a particular, identifiable Church on earth. Protestants typically re-interpret this to refer to an “invisible church” consisting of all “true believers” in Jesus.

Protestants, when they say the prayer, refer to the (lower-cased) “holy catholic church,” using “catholic” merely in the sense of “universal,” not implying any connection with the (upper-case) Catholic Church, which is based in Rome. (This is despite the fact that the term “Catholic” was already used to refer to a particular, visible Church by the second century and had already lost its broader meaning of “universal”).

Despite these differences Protestants embrace the Apostles’ Creed without reluctance, seeing it as embodying basic Christian truths as they understand them.

The Lord’s Prayer

The next prayer in the rosary—Our Father or the Pater Noster (from its opening words in Latin), also known as the Lord’s Prayer—is even more acceptable to Protestants because Jesus himself taught it to his disciples.

It is given in the Bible in two slightly different versions (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). The one given in Matthew is the one we say. (We won’t reproduce it here. All Christians should have it memorized.)

The Hail Mary

The next prayer in the rosary, and the prayer which is really at the center of the devotion, is the Hail Mary. Since the Hail Mary is a prayer to Mary, many Protestants assume it’s unbiblical. Quite the contrary, actually. Let’s look at it.

The prayer begins, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” This is nothing other than the greeting the angel Gabriel gave Mary in Luke 1:28 (Confraternity Version). The next part reads this way:

“Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” This was exactly what Mary’s cousin Elizabeth said to her in Luke 1:42. The only thing that has been added to these two verses are the names “Jesus” and “Mary,” to make clear who is being referred to. So the first part of the Hail Mary is entirely biblical.

The second part of the Hail Mary is not taken straight from Scripture, but it is entirely biblical in the thoughts it expresses. It reads:

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Let’s look at the first words. Some Protestants do object to saying “Holy Mary” because they claim Mary was a sinner like the rest of us. But Mary was a Christian (the first Christian, actually, the first to accept Jesus; cf. Luke 1:45), and the Bible describes Christians in general as holy. In fact, they are called saints, which means “holy ones” (Eph. 1:1, Phil. 1:1, Col. 1:2). Furthermore, as the mother of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Mary was certainly a very holy woman.

Some Protestants object to the title “Mother of God,” but suffice it to say that the title doesn’t mean Mary is older than God; it means the person who was born of her was a divine person, not a human person. (Jesus is one person, the divine, but has two natures, the divine and the human; it is incorrect to say he is a human person.) The denial that Mary had God in her womb is a heresy known as Nestorianism (which claims that Jesus was two persons, one divine and one human), which has been condemned since the early 400s and which the Reformers and Protestant Bible scholars have always rejected.

Another Mediator?

The most problematic line for non-Catholics is usually the last: “pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” Many non-Catholics think such a request denies the teaching of 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” But in the preceding four verses (1 Tim. 2:1-4), Paul instructs Christians to pray for each other, meaning it cannot interfere with Christ’s mediatorship: “I urge that prayers, supplications, petitions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone. . . . This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior.”

We know this exhortation to pray for others applies to the saints in heaven who, as Revelation 5:8 reveals, intercede for us by offering our prayers to God: “The twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

The Glory Be

The fourth prayer found in the rosary is the Glory Be, sometimes called the Gloria or Gloria Patri. The last two names are taken from the opening words of the Latin version of the prayer, which in English reads:

“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” The Gloria is a brief hymn of praise in which all Christians can join. It has been used since the fourth century (though its present form is from the seventh) and traditionally has been recited at the end of each Psalm in the Divine Office.

The Closing Prayer

We’ve covered the opening prayers of the rosary. In fact, we’ve covered all the prayers of the rosary except the very last one, which is usually the Hail Queen (Salve Regina), sometimes called the Hail Holy Queen. It’s the most commonly recited prayer in praise of Mary, after the Hail Mary itself, and was composed at the end of the eleventh century. It generally reads like this (there are several variants):

“Hail holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.”

So those are the prayers of the rosary. Between the introductory prayers and the concluding prayer is the meat of the rosary: the decades. Each decade—there are fifteen in a full rosary (which takes about forty-five minutes to say)—is composed of ten Hail Marys. Each decade is bracketed between an Our Father and a Glory Be, so each decade actually has twelve prayers.

Each decade is devoted to a mystery regarding the life of Jesus or his mother. Here the word mystery refers to a truth of the faith, not to something incomprehensible, as in the line, “It’s a mystery to me!” The fifteen mysteries are divided into three groups of five: the Joyful, the Sorrowful, the Glorious. When people speak of “saying the rosary” they usually mean saying any set of five (which takes about fifteen minutes) rather than the recitation of all fifteen mysteries. Let’s look at the mysteries.

Meditation the Key

First we must understand that they are meditations. When Catholics recite the twelve prayers that form a decade of the rosary, they meditate on the mystery associated with that decade. If they merely recite the prayers, whether vocally or silently, they’re missing the essence of the rosary. It isn’t just a recitation of prayers, but a meditation on the grace of God. Critics, not knowing about the meditation part, imagine the rosary must be boring, uselessly repetitious, meaningless, and their criticism carries weight if you reduce the rosary to a formula. Christ forbade meaningless repetition (Matt. 6:7), but the Bible itself prescribes some prayers that involve repetition. Look at Psalms 136, which is a litany (a prayer with a recurring refrain) meant to be sung in the Jewish Temple. In the psalm the refrain is “His mercy endures forever.” Sometimes in Psalms 136 the refrain starts before a sentence is finished, meaning it is more repetitious than the rosary, though this prayer was written directly under the inspiration of God.

It is the meditation on the mysteries that gives the rosary its staying power. The Joyful Mysteries are these: the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation (Luke 1:40-56), the Nativity (Luke 2:6-20), the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:21-39), and the Finding of the child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-51).

Then come the Sorrowful Mysteries: the Agony in the Garden (Matt. 26:36-46), the Scourging (Matt. 27:26), the Crowning with Thorns (Matt. 27:29), the Carrying of the Cross (John 19:17), and the Crucifixion (Luke 23:33-46).

The final Mysteries are the Glorious: the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-12), the Ascension (Luke 24:50-51), the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), the Assumption of Mary into heaven (Rev. 12), and her Coronation (cf. Rev. 12:1).

With the exception of the last two, each mystery is explicitly scriptural. True, the Assumption and Coronation of Mary are not explicitly stated in the Bible, but they are not contrary to it, so there is no reason to reject them out of hand. Given the scriptural basis of most of the mysteries, it’s little wonder that many Protestants, once they understand the meditations that are the essence of the rosary, happily take it up as a devotion. We’ve looked at the prayers found in the rosary and the mysteries around which it is formed. Now let’s see how it was formed historically.

The Secret of Paternoster Row

It’s commonly said that St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans), instituted the rosary. Not so. Certain parts of the rosary predated Dominic; others arose only after his death.

Centuries before Dominic, monks had begun to recite all 150 psalms on a regular basis. As time went on, it was felt that the lay brothers, known as the conversi, should have some form of prayer of their own. They were distinct from the choir monks, and a chief distinction was that they were illiterate. Since they couldn’t read the psalms, they couldn’t recite them with the monks. They needed an easily remembered prayer.

The prayer first chosen was the Our Father, and, depending on circumstances, it was said either fifty or a hundred times. These conversi used rosaries to keep count, and the rosaries were known then as Paternosters (“Our Fathers”).

In England there arose a craftsmen’s guild of some importance, the members of which made these rosaries. In London you can find a street, named Paternoster Row, which preserves the memory of the area where these craftsmen worked.

The rosaries that originally were used to count Our Fathers came to be used, during the twelfth century, to count Hail Marys—or, more properly, the first half of what we now call the Hail Mary. (The second half was added some time later.)